Particle Physics: A Beginner's Guide

Beginner's Guide (Oneworld Publications)

by Brian R. Martin

Gaining notoriety as the science behind the controversial experiments of the Large Hadron Collider, particle physics explores our most fundamental and mind-blowing problems: How did the Universe start? What are we made of? How small is the smallest thing? Without presuming any prior scientific knowledge, Brian R. Martin takes readers on a wide-ranging tour of the field, from its beginnings in nuclear physics to the discovery of quarks to present-day research into string theory, the mystery of antimatter, and the search for the elusive God particle.

Genres: Science, Physics

231 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 16, 2011

Reviews

[Briana Herlihy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely exactly what I was looking for. I've recently started a self-study course in particle physics and cosmology. For a few months, I simply followed some qualitative-based Coursera courses, but now that I'm getting more interested in the subject and am thinking of pursuing it when I can finally afford university, I want to learn more. In order to do that, I have to refresh my memory of calculus and teach myself quantum mechanics, and while that takes a while, I wanted to find a particle physics book that was a step above what I had already learned, but didn't require so much math.

This was the perfect middle-of-the-road book. It's mostly qualitative, to be sure, but it goes more in depth and gives a very cursory description of the math involved, so I did learn new things. I would definitely recommend it for any beginning physics student interested in the Standard Model.

[WarpDrive · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, well written book.

Just a couple of points:
- I would have preferred a slightly more "quantitative" approach and a more detailed exposure of the underlying quantum physics (something like the "Theoretical Minimum" approach followed by Leonard Susskind, for example).
- I would have loved a more detailed exposure of the gauge symmetry principles, as this is really fundamental to a real understanding of the Standard Model.

Apart from this, it is a nice introductory book which achieves the objective of presenting in a easily understandable way the fundamentals of the Standard Model.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is great for a person who is still choosing where he or she wants to be. The theories are explained in that a lay person would understand. Arduous mathematical concepts are omitted for obvious reasons. If one is unsure about their love for particle physics, one should read this.

[Dedi Khana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent, but the title is bit misleading. This is not for beginners. The material is dense and difficult to crunch. It supposed to be for moderate level of layman.

[Pam Shelton-Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this is listed as a beginner's guide, some familiarity with basic physics helps. It does an excellent job of the history and overview of this fascinating topic. My original major was physics and astronomy, and this book makes me realize my age since many of the particles now known were just "possible" when I first started. At the point this book was published, the discovery of the Higgs boson (good discussion in this book) had not yet occurred nor had the more recent possibility of X17 and a fifth force. I really liked the connection with astrophysics toward the end of the book. I plan on reading this book again to gain even more insight into this crucial and engrossing topic.